This February I was finally able to attend the course taught by Frans Stiene in Los Angeles. It was exactly the kind of course I dreamed it would be: Not a reiteration of the IHR books, but rather a modeling of the five elements in the spontaneous laboratory of the classroom setting. It was clear that Frans practices and lives the Reiki elements.

The first word that comes to mind for me in how the mantras and symbols have changed my life is balance. The dictionary defines balance as “the state of having your weight spread equally so that you do not fall”. When taken literally of course, this would mean to fall over in a physical sense. However, translated a bit differently, it may mean falling emotionally, spiritually, or mentally. That of course, is how much of my life was before Shinpiden. Although I had been practicing Reiki for many years, my focus was always on doing Reiki for others, and I found myself often feeling over-extended and stressed.

What we feel during a hands on healing session or a meditation is called hibiki in Japanese. Literally, hibiki means an echo. The reason why these sensations are called hibiki/echo is because they are not real—an echo is empty, like a reflection or an illusion.

If we translate HSZSN, 本者是正念, one of the tools within Okuden Reiki Level II, it means: I am right mindfulness. Right mindfulness is about making sure our mind doesn’t get carried away by labeling things. We normally label what we see, feel, hear, touch, or smell either good or bad and then deal with it accordingly. However, when we have a direct experience of right mindfulness, we begin to stop labeling things, we just see them as they are, and we don’t get carried away by our dualistic thinking.

It is with sadness that I say goodbye to Li Ying, a real Taoist master.
The first time I met Li Ying, in 1999, I felt a very strong connection with her, which deepened over the years when she started teaching me ancient Taoist practices.

What does inner happiness mean?
Not relying on outer circumstances to make you feel happy.
When we feel inner happiness we start to feel alive: an aliveness which brings joy, a smile on our face, and a freedom we haven’t felt before.
But how do we create this within our practice of the system of Reiki?